Pembrolizumab and other immunotherapies have become central in treating metastatic colon cancer, particularly effective in patients with mismatch repair deficiencies. We report a case involving a man who initially underwent radical surgery for sigmoid colon cancer on April 27, 2011, followed by hepatic tumor resection on September 21, 2017. Post-surgery, he received eight cycles of adjuvant chemotherapy with the CAPEOX regimen and was regularly monitored through CT and MRI scans. On August 24, 2022, liver metastases were detected, and he was diagnosed with Lynch syndrome (LS) due to germline mutation in the MSH2 and EPCAM genes. He commenced treatment with 200mg of pembrolizumab intravenously every three weeks on September 2, 2022, and demonstrated a sustained response. However, after 17 cycles, he developed a treatment related adverse event (TRAE) of pancreatic endocrine dysfunction, leading to type 1 diabetes, managed with subcutaneous insulin injections. After 30 cycles of treatment, no evidence of disease was observed. This case underscores the significant clinical benefits of first-line pembrolizumab in managing hepatic metastasis in colonic carcinoma associated with LS, despite the occurrence of TRAEs. It raises critical questions regarding the optimal duration of immunotherapy following a complete or partial response and whether treatment should be discontinued upon the emergency of TRAEs. Continued research and forthcoming clinical trials with checkpoint inhibitors are expected to refine treatment protocols for LS-associated carcinoma.

Mismatch Repair (MMR) mechanisms play a pivotal role in rectifying DNA replication errors and maintaining the stability of DNA microsatellite structure. Colorectal cancer (CRC) can be characterized into microsatellite stability (MSS) and microsatellite instability (MSI) subtypes based on the functionality of MMR. MSI CRC notably exhibits enhanced chemotherapy resistance, attributable to diminished MMR-related protein expression. Cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) has emerged as a promising treatment modality, demonstrating efficacy in inducing apoptosis in various cancer cells. However, the therapeutic impact of CAP on MSI colorectal cancer, and the underlying mechanisms remain elusive. In this study, we investigated the effects of CAP on MSI (MC38, HCT116, and LOVO) and MSS (CT26 and HT29) CRC cell lines. We are probing into the products of CAP treatment. Our findings indicate that CAP treatment induces comparable effects on apoptosis, reactive oxygen species (ROS), and reactive nitrogen species (RNS), as well as the expression of apoptosis-related proteins in both MSI and MSS cells. Mechanistically, CAP treatment led to an elevation in the expression of mismatch repair proteins (MLH1 and MSH2), particularly in MSI cells, which notably have been proven to facilitate the activation of apoptosis-related proteins. Collectively, our study reveals that CAP enhances apoptotic signaling and induces apoptosis in MSI colorectal cancer cells by upregulating the expression of MMR-related proteins, thereby reinforcing MMR stabilization.

BACKGROUND: Multiple primary malignancies are rare in cancer patients, and risk factors may include genetics, viral infection, smoking, radiation, and other environmental factors. Lynch syndrome (LS) is the most prevalent form of hereditary predisposition to double primary colorectal and endometrial cancer in females. LS, also known as hereditary nonpolyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC), is a common autosomal dominant condition. Pathogenic germline variants in the DNA mismatch repair (MMR) genes, namely MLH1, MSH2, MSH6, and PMS2, and less frequently, deletions in the 3\' end of EPCAM cause LS. It manifested itself as loss of MMR nuclear tumor staining (MMR protein deficient, dMMR).
METHODS: This case study describes a double primary carcinoma in a 49-year-old female. In June 2022, the patient was diagnosed with highly to moderately differentiated endometrioid adenocarcinoma. The patient\'s mother died of esophageal cancer at age 50, and the father died of undefined reasons at age 70. Immunohistochemical stainings found ER (++), PR (++), P53 (+), MSH2 (-), MSH6 (+), MLH1 (+), and PMS2 (+). MMR gene sequencing was performed on endometrial tumor and peripheral blood samples from this patient. The patient carried two pathogenic somatic mutations in the endometrial tumor, MSH6 c.3261dupC (p.Phe1088LeufsTer5) and MSH2 c.445_448dup (p.Val150fs), in addition to a rare germline mutation MSH6 c.133G > C (p.Gly45Arg). Two years ago, the patient was diagnosed with moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma in the left-half colon. Immunohistochemical stainings found MSH2(-), MSH6(+), MLH1(+), and PMS2(+) (data not shown).
CONCLUSIONS: In the case of a patient with double primary EC and CRC, a careful evaluation of the IHC and the genetic data was presented. The patient carried rare compound heterozygous variants, a germline missense mutation, and a somatic frameshift mutation of MSH6, combined with a novel somatic null variant of MSH2. Our study broadened the variant spectrum of double primary cancer and provided insight into the molecular basis for abnormal MSH2 protein loss and double primary carcinoma.

DNA mismatch repair (MMR) improves replication accuracy by up to three orders of magnitude. The MutS protein in E. coli or its eukaryotic homolog, the MutSα (Msh2-Msh6) complex, recognizes base mismatches and initiates the mismatch repair mechanism. Msh6 is an essential protein for assembling the heterodimeric complex. However, the function of the Msh6 subunit remains elusive. Tetrahymena undergoes multiple DNA replication and nuclear division processes, including mitosis, amitosis, and meiosis. Here, we found that Msh6Tt localized in the macronucleus (MAC) and the micronucleus (MIC) during the vegetative growth stage and starvation. During the conjugation stage, Msh6Tt only localized in MICs and newly developing MACs. MSH6Tt knockout led to aberrant nuclear division during vegetative growth. The MSH6TtKO mutants were resistant to treatment with the DNA alkylating agent methyl methanesulfonate (MMS) compared to wild type cells. MSH6Tt knockout affected micronuclear meiosis and gametogenesis during the conjugation stage. Furthermore, Msh6Tt interacted with Msh2Tt and MMR-independent factors. Downregulation of MSH2Tt expression affected the stability of Msh6Tt. In addition, MSH6Tt knockout led to the upregulated expression of several MSH6Tt homologs at different developmental stages. Msh6Tt is involved in macronuclear amitosis, micronuclear mitosis, micronuclear meiosis, and gametogenesis in Tetrahymena.

Conserved long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have not thoroughly been studied in many cancers, including gastric cancer (GC). We have identified a novel lncRNA PTCHD4-AS which was highly conserved between humans and mice and naturally downregulated in GC cell lines and tissues. Notably, PTCHD4-AS was found to be transcriptionally induced by DNA damage agents and its upregulation led to cell cycle arrest at the G2/M phase, in parallel, it facilitated the cell apoptosis induced by cisplatin (CDDP) in GC. Mechanistically, PTCHD4-AS directly bound to the DNA mismatch repair protein MSH2-MSH6 dimer, and facilitated the binding of dimer to ATM, thereby promoting the expression of phosphorylated ATM, p53 and p21. Here we conclude that the upregulation of PTCHD4-AS inhibits proliferation and increases CDDP sensitivity of GC cells via binding with MSH2-MSH6 dimer, activating the ATM-p53-p21 pathway.

OBJECTIVE: Immunohistochemistry is routinely performed to detect mismatch repair deficiency in solid tumors. Heterogeneous MMR expression (MMR-het) has been reported occasionally but not systemically studied.
METHODS: In this study, we depicted MMR-het patterns of 40 tumors of different anatomical sites and analyzed MMR genetic alterations and tumor mutational burdens (TMB) through comprehensive genomic profiling.
RESULTS: The MMR-het patterns were classified into 4 subgroups: \"single-loss\" (3 cases), \"MLH1/PMS2 double-loss\" (16 cases), \"MSH2/MSH6 double-loss\" (8 cases), and \"triple/tetra-loss\" (13 cases). Seventeen MMR-het cases exhibited histological heterogeneity, in which MMR protein loss was generally confined to either poorly differentiated or well-differentiated tumor areas. All \"single-loss\" tumors had MMR somatic mutations and coexisting POLE exonuclease domain mutations. \"MLH1/PMS2 double-loss\" tumors unexceptionally harbored MLH1 hypermethylation without MMR germline mutations. In the \"MSH2/MSH6 double-loss\" subgroup, 4 cases had MSH2/MSH6 germline mutations, while another 4 cases had multiple MSH2/MSH6 somatic mutations. Additional POLE exonuclease domain mutations were identified in 2 cases. Tumors in the \"triple/tetra-loss\" subgroup generally had MLH1 abnormalities (8 MLH1 hypermethylation, 4 MLH1 germline mutation, 1 MLH1 double somatic mutations), and coexistent somatic mutations on MSH2/MSH6 . Thirty-one cases (83.8%) were TMB-H, and all POLE -mutated cases exhibited ultra-high TMB (111.4 to 524.2 mut/Mb).
CONCLUSIONS: Our findings highlighted the importance of accurately interpreting heterogeneous MMR protein staining patterns for developing a more efficient personalized genetic investigation strategy.

Lynch syndrome, an autosomal dominant hereditary disease arising from mutations in mismatch repair genes, is linked to the development of multiple tumor types, notably colorectal cancer, endometrial carcinoma and upper urinary tract urothelial carcinoma. In this study, we present the case of a young patient diagnosed with upper urinary tract urothelial carcinoma, notable for a familial history of diverse malignancies. By employing genetic analysis, we verified the presence of Lynch syndrome within the family and detected novel variants, MSH2 p.A604D and TSC2 p.C738Y, utilizing NGS technology. Subsequently, we conducted validation experiments to assess the pathogenicity of the MSH2 and TSC2 variants. We illustrated that the MSH2 variant can result in diminished MSH2 expression, compromised mismatch repair function, and induce resistance to cisplatin in urothelial carcinoma. Furthermore, we substantiated the promotional impact of the identified TSC2 variant on urothelial carcinoma, encompassing proliferation, invasion, and migration. Significantly, we found that the MSH2 p.A604D variant and TSC2 p.C738Y variant synergistically enhance the promotion of urothelial carcinoma.

OBJECTIVE: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common primary liver cancer and has a poor prognosis. Periodontitis, or tooth loss, is considered to be related to hepatocarcinogenesis and its poor prognosis. This study aimed to explore potential associations and cross-talk mechanisms between periodontitis and HCC.
METHODS: Periodontitis and HCC microarray datasets were acquired from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) database and were analyzed to obtain differentially expressed (DE) lncRNAs, miRNAs and mRNAs. Functional enrichment analysis was used to detect the functions of these mRNAs. Then, a ceRNA network of periodontitis-related HCC was constructed. Least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression, random forest algorithm, and support vector machine-recursive feature elimination (SVM-RFE) were performed to explore the diagnostic significance of mRNAs in periodontitis-related HCC. Cox regression analyses were conducted to screen mRNAs with prognostic significance in HCC. Quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR) and immunohistochemistry (IHC) were conducted to validate the expression of these mRNAs in HCC tissues.
RESULTS: A ceRNA network was constructed. Functional enrichment analysis indicated that the network is associated with immune and inflammatory responses, the cell cycle and liver metabolic function. LASSO, random forest algorithm and SVM-RFE showed the diagnostic significance of DE mRNAs in HCC. Cox regression analyses revealed that MSH2, GRAMD1C and CTHRC1 have prognostic significance for HCC, and qRT-PCR and IHC validated this finding.
CONCLUSIONS: Periodontitis may affect the occurrence of HCC by changing the immune and inflammatory response, the cell cycle and liver metabolic function. MSH2, GRAMD1C and CTHRC1 are potential prognostic biomarkers for HCC.

BACKGROUND: Muir-Torre syndrome, presenting with cutaneous tumors and visceral malignancies, is a variant of Lynch syndrome. The development of immune checkpoint inhibitors provided novel effective treatment options for metastatic colorectal cancer patients with microsatellite instability and deficient mismatch repair. However, the use of immune checkpoint inhibitors in neoadjuvant and adjuvant settings for patients with locally advanced colorectal cancer remains undefined because of limited follow-ups in current studies.
METHODS: In the present study, we reported a 33-year-old Muri-Torre syndrome patient with stage ⅢC (c.T4N2M0) colorectal cancer and keratoacanthoma. Microsatellite instability / deficient mismatch repair, high tumor mutation burden, and MSH2 germline mutation were identified by next-generation sequencing. Pembrolizumab monotherapy was used as neoadjuvant treatment and the patient achieved a major pathological response. After surgical resection, pembrolizumab was continuously used in an adjuvant setting for 12 months. The patient remained disease-free with a durable disease-free survival for 44 months. To our knowledge, this is the first and longest follow-up study reporting pembrolizumab as a single-agent neoadjuvant therapy for locally advanced colon cancer.
CONCLUSIONS: The results demonstrate promising performance in neoadjuvant and adjuvant settings. Further studies are needed to confirm its potential usefulness as an outcome measure in clinical practice.

Objective: To explore the biological role and clinical significance of ubiquitin-specific protease 7 (USP7) in the carcinogenesis of scar ulcer. Methods: A retrospective observational study combined with bioinformatics analysis was used. The RNA expression profile data of USP7 in tumor and/or its corresponding paracancular normal tissue were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database and the Gene Expression Omnibus database, and the RNA sequencing data were transformed by log2. The variations of USP7 gene were analyzed by cBioPortal database. The USP7 mRNA expression in tumor and adjacent normal tissue in TCGA database were obtained by using the \"Gene_DE\" module in TIMER 2.0 database. The survival rates of patients with high and low USP7 expression in cutaneous melanoma (SKCM), cervical squamous cell carcinoma (CESC), lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC), and head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSC) were analyzed using the Gene Expression Profile Interactive Analysis 2 (GEPIA2) database, and the Kaplan-Meier survival curves were drawn. Sangerbox database was used to analyze the correlation of USP7 expression in pan-cancer with microsatellite instability (MSI) or tumor mutation burden (TMB) pan-cancer. Through the \"correlation analysis\" module in the GEPIA2 database, the correlation of USP7 expression in pan-cancer with the expression levels of five DNA mismatch repair genes (MLH1, MSH2, MSH6, PMS2, and EPCAM) and three essential DNA methyltransferases (DNMT)--DNMT1, DNMT3A, and DNMT3B were evaluated. The USP7 expression in CESC, HNSC, LUSC, and SKCM and its correlation with infiltration of immune cells (B cells, CD4+ T cells, CD8+ T cells, neutrophils, macrophages, and dendritic cells) were analyzed by the \"Immune-Gene\" module in TIMER 2.0 database. The \"Similar Genes Detection\" module of GEPIA2 database was used to obtain the top 100 protein sets with similar expression patterns to USP7. Intersection analysis was performed between the aforementioned protein sets and the top 50 protein sets that were directly physically bound to USP7 obtained by using the STRING database. Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) and Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis were performed for the two protein sets mentioned above using the DAVID database. The samples of normal skin, hypertrophic scar, scar ulcer, and scar carcinoma with corresponding clinicopathologic features were collected from the Department of Pathology of Tongren Hospital of Wuhan University & Wuhan Third Hospital from October 2018 to October 2022, and the USP7 expression in tissue was detected by immunohistochemical method, with the number of samples of 6. Data were statistically analyzed with Log-rank test, one-way analysis of variance, and Bonferroni test. Results: In pan-cancer, the main gene variations of USP7 were mutation and amplification, and the top 3 tumors with the highest variation frequency (>6%) were bladder urothelial carcinoma, SKCM, and endometrial carcinoma. The main mutation of USP7 gene in pan-cancer was missense mutation. In SKCM with the highest mutation frequency, the main type of mutation was missense mutation in USP7_ICP0_bdg domain. USP7 mRNA expression in breast invasive carcinoma, bile duct carcinoma, colon carcinoma, esophageal carcinoma, HNSC, renal chromophobe cell carcinoma, hepatocellular carcinoma, lung adenocarcinoma, LUSC, prostate carcinoma, and gastric carcinoma was significantly higher than that in corresponding paracancer normal tissue (P<0.05). USP7 mRNA expression in glioblastoma multiforme, renal clear cell carcinoma, renal papillary cell carcinoma, and thyroid carcinoma was significantly lower than that in corresponding paracancular normal tissue (P<0.05). In addition, USP7 mRNA expression in SKCM metastases was much higher than that in primary tumor tissue (P<0.05). Survival curves showed no significant difference in survival rate between patients with high USP7 expression and patients with low USP7 expression in CESC, HNSC, LUSC, and SKCM (Log-rank P>0.05, with hazard ratios of 1.00, 0.99, 1.00, and 1.30, respectively). USP7 expression in colon cancer, colorectal cancer, thymic cancer, and thyroid cancer was negatively correlated with TMB (with Pearson correlation coefficients of -0.26, -0.19, -0.19, and 0.11, respectively, P<0.05). USP7 expression in glioma, CESC, lung adenocarcinoma, mixed renal carcinoma, and LUSC was positively correlated with MSI expression (with Pearson correlation coefficients of 0.22, 0.14, 0.15, 0.08, and 0.14, respectively, P<0.05), and USP7 expression in colon cancer, colorectal cancer, invasive breast cancer, prostate cancer, HNSC, thyroid cancer, and diffuse large B-cell lymphoma were significantly negatively correlated with MSI expression (with Pearson correlation coefficients of -0.31, -0.27, -0.13, -0.19, -0.16, -0.18, and -0.53, respectively, P<0.05). The expression of USP7 in CESC was positively correlated with that of both MSH2 and MSH6 (with Spearman correlation coefficients of 0.51 and 0.44, respectively, P<0.05), and the expression of USP7 in HNSC was positively correlated with the expression of EPCAM, MLH1, MSH2, MSH6, and PMS2 (with Spearman correlation coefficients of 0.39, 0.14, 0.49, 0.54, and 0.41, respectively, P<0.05), and the expression of USP7 in LUSC was positively correlated with the expression of EPCAM, MSH2, MSH6, and PMS2 (with Spearman correlation coefficients of 0.20, 0.36, 0.40, and 0.34, respectively, P<0.05), and the expression of USP7 in SKCM was positively correlated with the expression of EPCAM, MLH1, MSH2, MSH6, and PMS2 (with Spearman correlation coefficients of 0.11, 0.33, 0.42, 0.55, and 0.34, respectively, P<0.05). The expression of USP7 in CESC, HNSC, LUSC, and SKCM was significantly positively correlated with the expression of DNMT1, DNMT3A, and DNMT3B (with Spearman correlation coefficients of 0.42, 0.34, 0.22, 0.45, 0.52, 0.22, 0.36, 0.36, 0.22, 0.38, 0.46, and 0.21, respectively, P<0.05). The expression of USP7 in CESC, HNSC, LUSC, and SKCM was positively correlated with CD4+ T cell infiltration (with Partial correlation coefficients of 0.14, 0.22, 0.13, and 0.16, respectively, P<0.05). Being similar to the pattern of USP7 expression and ranked among top 100 protein sets, the top 5 proteins were C16orf72, BCLAF1, UBN, GSPT1, ERI2 (with Spearman correlation coefficients of 0.83, 0.74, 0.73, and 0.72, respectively, all P values<0.05). The top 50 protein sets that directly physically bind to USP7 overlapped with the aforementioned protein set by only one protein, thyroid hormone receptor interaction factor 12. KEGG enrichment analysis showed that USP7 related genes were involved in cell cycle, spliceosome, cell senescence, and p53 signal pathway. GO enrichment analysis showed that USP7 related genes were involved in transcriptional regulation, protein ubiquitination, DNA repair, and cytoplasmic pattern recognition receptor signal pathways. Analysis of clinical samples showed that USP7 expression was significantly higher in hypertrophic scars (0.35±0.05), scar ulcers (0.43±0.04), and scar cancers (0.61±0.03) than in normal skin (0.18±0.04), P<0.05. Conclusions: USP7 may be a clinical biomarker for the progression of cicatricial ulcer cancer.
目的： 探讨泛素特异性蛋白酶7（USP7）在瘢痕溃疡癌变过程中的生物学作用及其临床意义。 方法： 采用回顾性观察性研究结合生物信息学分析方法。从癌症基因组图谱（TCGA）数据库和基因表达综合数据库中获取USP7在肿瘤和/或其对应癌旁正常组织中的RNA表达谱数据，并将RNA测序数据进行log2转化。通过多维度癌症基因集cBioPortal数据库分析USP7基因变异情况，并分析其突变位点。通过TIMER 2.0数据库中“差异表达”模块获得TCGA数据库中肿瘤、癌旁正常组织USP7 mRNA表达情况。使用基因表达谱交互分析2（GEPIA2）数据库分析皮肤黑色素瘤（SKCM）、宫颈鳞状细胞癌（CESC）、肺鳞状细胞癌（LUSC）和头颈鳞状细胞癌（HNSC）中高表达USP7患者与低表达USP7患者的生存率并绘制Kaplan-Meier生存曲线。利用Sangerbox数据库分析USP7在泛癌中的表达与微卫星不稳定性（MSI）或肿瘤突变负担（TMB）的相关性。通过GEPIA2数据库中“相关性分析”模块，评估USP7在泛癌中的表达与5种DNA错配修复基因（MLH1、MSH2、MSH6、PMS2和EPCAM）表达水平和3种必需DNA甲基转移酶（DNMT）——DNMT1、DNMT3A、DNMT3B表达水平的相关性。通过TIMER 2.0数据库中“免疫-基因”模块分析USP7在CESC、HNSC、LUSC和SKCM中表达及其与免疫细胞（B细胞、CD4+T细胞、CD8+T细胞、中性粒细胞、巨噬细胞和树突状细胞）浸润的相关性。利用GEPIA2数据库的“相似基因检测”模块获得与USP7表达模式相似且排名前100的蛋白集。将前述蛋白集与利用STRING数据库获得的与USP7有直接物理结合作用且排名前50的蛋白集进行交集分析。通过DAVID数据库对上述2个蛋白集进行京都基因与基因组百科全书（KEGG）和基因本体论（GO）富集分析。收集2018年10月—2022年10月武汉大学附属同仁医院暨武汉市第三医院病理科有相应临床病理特征的正常皮肤、增生性瘢痕、瘢痕溃疡、瘢痕癌的术后标本，采用免疫组织化学法检测组织中USP7表达情况，样本数为6。对数据行Log-rank检验、单因素方差分析及Bonferroni检验。 结果： 在泛癌中，USP7的主要基因变异类型为突变和扩增，变异频率（>6%）居前3位的肿瘤依次为膀胱尿路上皮癌、SKCM和子宫内膜癌。USP7基因在泛癌中的主要突变为错义突变。在突变频率最高的SKCM中，主要突变类型是USP7_ICP0_bdg结构域的错义突变。USP7 mRNA在乳腺浸润癌、胆管癌、结肠癌、食管癌、HNSC、肾嫌色细胞癌、肝细胞肝癌、肺腺癌、LUSC、前列腺癌和胃癌肿瘤组织中的表达均明显高于其对应的癌旁正常组织（P<0.05），在多形成性胶质细胞瘤、肾透明细胞癌、肾乳头状细胞癌和甲状腺癌中的表达均明显低于其对应的癌旁正常组织（P<0.05）；此外，USP7 mRNA在SKCM转移组织中的表达远高于其原发肿瘤组织（P<0.05）。生存曲线显示，在CESC、HNSC、LUSC和SKCM中，高表达USP7患者与低表达USP7患者的存活率比较，差异均无统计学意义（Log-rank P>0.05，风险比分别为1.00、0.99、1.00、1.30）。USP7在结肠癌、结直肠癌、胸腺癌、甲状腺癌中的表达均与TMB呈显著负相关（Pearson相关系数分别为-0.26、-0.19、-0.19和-0.11，P<0.05）；USP7在神经胶质瘤、CESC、肺腺癌、混合肾癌、LUSC中的表达均与MSI呈显著正相关（Pearson相关系数分别为0.22、0.14、0.15、0.08和0.14，P<0.05），在结肠癌、结直肠癌、乳腺浸润癌、前列腺癌、HNSC、甲状腺癌和弥漫性大B细胞淋巴瘤中的表达均与MSI呈显著负相关（Pearson相关系数分别为-0.31、-0.27、-0.13、-0.19、-0.16、-0.18和-0.53，P<0.05）。USP7在CESC中的表达与MSH2和MSH6的表达均呈明显正相关（Spearman相关系数分别为0.51和0.44，P<0.05），在HNSC中的表达与EPCAM、MLH1、MSH2、MSH6、PMS2的表达均呈明显正相关（Spearman相关系数分别为0.39、0.14、0.49、0.54和0.41，P<0.05），在LUSC中的表达与EPCAM、MSH2、MSH6和PMS2的表达均呈明显正相关（Spearman相关系数分别为0.20、0.36、0.40和0.34，P<0.05），在SKCM中的表达与EPCAM、MLH1、MSH2、MSH6和PMS2的表达均呈明显正相关（Spearman相关系数分别为0.11、0.33、0.42、0.55和0.34，P<0.05）；USP7在CESC、HNSC、LUSC和SKCM中的表达与DNMT1、DNMT3A和DNMT3B的表达均呈显著正相关（Spearman相关系数分别为0.42、0.34和0.22，0.45、0.52和0.22，0.36、0.36和0.22，0.38、0.46和0.21，P<0.05）。USP7在CESC、HNSC、LUSC和SKCM中的表达仅与CD4+T细胞浸润呈显著正相关（Partial相关系数分别为0.14、0.22、0.13、0.16，P<0.05）。与USP7表达模式相似且排名前100的蛋白集中，排名前5的蛋白依次是C16orf72、BCLAF1、UBN、GSPT1、ERI2（Spearman相关系数分别为0.83、0.74、0.73、0.73和0.72，P值均<0.05）。与USP7有直接物理结合作用且排名前50的蛋白集与前述蛋白集的交集仅有1个蛋白，即为甲状腺激素受体相互作用因子12。KEGG富集分析显示，USP7相关基因涉及细胞周期、剪接体、细胞衰老和p53信号通路等。GO富集分析显示，USP7相关基因涉及转录调控、蛋白质泛素化、DNA修复和细胞质模式识别受体信号通路等。临床样本分析显示，USP7在增生性瘢痕（0.35±0.05）、瘢痕溃疡（0.43±0.04）和瘢痕癌（0.61±0.03）中的表达均明显高于正常皮肤（0.18±0.04），P<0.05。 结论： USP7可能为临床瘢痕溃疡癌变恶化的生物标志物。.